ROCKFORD — While the Tapco building, 222 Cedar St., is slated for demolition this summer, its neighbor, the Amerock/Ziock building, is getting a last chance to come back to life.

Both are in disrepair and would require millions of dollars in investment to

refurbish.

Some think they should be demolished and the land used to expand Davis Park, the city’s downtown festival grounds. Others think the buildings could be saved, renovated and populated with everything from hotel rooms and condos to shops and office space.

The city bought both structures in 2010, with plans to tear them down. Today, the big difference between the two is the Friends of Ziock, a group of downtown business people and residents who put the Ziock building on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.

Historic status for the Ziock building means the city can’t demolish it without a green light from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

Last month, the city and the preservation agency signed an agreement outlining what the city needs to do in the next 12 months if it wishes to demolish the 230,000-square-foot, 12-story building.

The city, along with the preservation agency and the Friends of Ziock, needs to draft a development plan for the building and market it for 12 months, the agreement states.

If the city is unable to strike a deal with a qualified developer in that time, it may start the demolition process, the agreement states. But, because of the building’s historic status, the city will need to document the building with written descriptions and photographs first.

City Administrator Jim Ryan said the city is working with the Friends of Ziock to draw up the request for proposals that will be published this summer.

“We’re going to exhaust all opportunities for the Amerock building and also be realistic,” Ryan said. “We have to move forward.”

The building was at the center of a handful of revitalization plans in recent years that never came to be, mainly because developers never could get the financing together.

Don Bissell, one of the leaders of the Friends group, said it is confident the building can be an asset to downtown once again.

“There are so many financial tools in place to help. We think the timing is right,” Bissell said. “When you bring all of these skills to the table, solutions always are possible.”